


Letting Go For The First Time (Is A Hard Task To Take)

by Illusinia



Series: Darcy Stark Series [10]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy is Tony's Daughter, Gen, daddy!Tony, family fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-20
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 02:12:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2331410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illusinia/pseuds/Illusinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy's first day of Kindergarten has arrived. Tony doesn't like it. Pepper just wants Tony to sit and stay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Letting Go For The First Time (Is A Hard Task To Take)

“I don't like this, Pep.”

 

“It's a perfectly normal part of childhood, Tony.”

 

The genius engineer groaned as he dropped his head heavily onto the counter. Most of the night, he'd been up, pacing like some kind of caged animal. Pepper would know, she'd finally managed to get him to stop at 3 am when she'd threatened to sedate him if he didn't sleep. She'd also had Jarvis lock him out of the lab.

 

And now, at almost 8:30 in the morning, the man was sitting at the counter in the kitchen and whining about taking his daughter to kindergarten. It wasn't the taking her that he was whining about though: it was the idea of her _going_ to kindergarten in the first place that he didn't like. All he wanted was for his precious daughter to stay home with him and build stuff, never mind that she needed school. Tony might have been home-schooled or boosted through the grades most of his life, but Pepper had other ideas when it came to Darcy. She was going to go to school like everyone else, become socialized like everyone else, and at least have a chance at being moderately socially normal.

 

Or, well, she would until some teacher had her skipping grades. There was no doubt in Pepper's mind Darcy was as much of a genius as her father. They'd already seen it at work with her ability to pick up reading and talking without them realizing it and she was pretty sure it would continue well into her school work. The hard part would be making sure Darcy didn't get bored with school like Tony had.

 

“You know, Pep, I never went to kindergarten,” pointed out Tony dismissively. “My dad didn't think it was necessary, and I turned out fine.”

 

“Want to check that statement, Tony?” suggested Pepper dryly, throwing a disbelieving glance over at her boss/friend/parental counterpart. He may be her boss, but they were raising a child together which gave Pepper every right to be sarcastic with the man. “Because last I checked, you tend to struggle when you have to deal with people. And things like school, particularly kindergarten, are meant to teach kids how to play nice with others.”

 

“But I'm smarter than everyone else!” objected Tony petulantly. His face tightened a little as he gave Pepper a frustrated look. “It isn't my fault people can't keep up and they won't be able to keep up with Darcy either. Then they'll make fun of her and she'll be upset all the time!”

 

Pepper paused in washing the dishes she'd been gathering as they spoke, glancing back at Tony with a sudden realization. She'd thought this was about Darcy growing up- about them having to get her a taste of independence and self-reliance. Everything about their conversations over kindergarten from the time Pepper broached the subject to right now, she'd assumed Tony just didn't want to let his little girl go. Never once had she thought Tony might be projecting.

 

But as she looked at her friend now, spotted the tension in his shoulders and the thinner set of his lips, she knew this wasn't about Darcy so much as it was about Tony. Specifically, it was about how Tony had been treated as a child in a school with normal people. He didn't talk about being a kid ever, and especially not where school was concerned unless he was discussing college. But a smart kid like Tony would have been an easy target for bullies in the school yard.

 

Setting the dishes aside, Pepper dried her hands and stepped around the counter to were Tony was pouting unhappily. One of her hands gently landed on his shoulder, the other wrapping around his upper body in a rare show of physical affection. Tony wasn't big on being hugged and Pepper was just fine with that under normal circumstances, but sometimes people just needed a hug all the same. Unsurprisingly, Tony didn't push her away. Instead, his arm went around her ribs and he momentarily tugged her closer while pressing his face against her shoulder. In a minute she fully expected him to make some sexual remark to break what was likely to be a very strange tension, but for this exact moment, he just let Pepper hug him. 

 

“Darcy will be alright, Tony,” murmured Pepper gently, one of her hands sliding up to stroke his hair like she might Darcy's when the little girl was upset. “Darcy has us to watch out for her and if there's any trouble, the kindergarten will let us know. I've checked these people out- they're some of the best.”

 

“And what if she's not?” asked Tony quietly, his voice distressed as all of his normal bravado went out the window. When it came to Darcy, Tony's normal walls could fall like dominoes if he thought for even a moment his baby girl could get hurt. “What if some kid is tormenting her and the school does nothing about it?”

 

“Then we'll handle it,” replied Pepper soothingly. “We can move her to a different school if she wants to. But Tony, dealing with the mean kids is part of life and Darcy needs to learn to fight her own battles eventually.” Leaning back a little, Pepper met Tony's eyes with the softest look she could give. “We can't fight her battles for her forever, and this is the first step towards her learning how to stand up for herself if there's no one else around to do it. Who knows, maybe she'll be just fine. If she's anything like you, she can probably get herself out any trouble she gets into.”

 

“I can't get myself out of everything,” muttered Tony. “That's why I hired you to begin with: you can get me out of anything.”

 

Pepper chuckled a little, shaking her head. “True. Did I mention all of the members of our local police department have been asking about you?”

 

“What?” asked Tony, leaning back with his brow furrowed. “Why have you been talking to the police? I swear, Pep, I haven't done anything arrest-worthy in months!”

 

“I know,” assured Pepper, heading back to the sink. “That's why they were asking about you. Some of them were wondering if you'd died or were just distracted.”

 

Tony nodded slowly, leaning forward against the table top. Pepper could feel his eyes on her. “And what'd you tell them?”

 

“That you were distracted but I was sure the trend wouldn't last.” replied Pepper with a shrug. “You did almost get arrested for those fireworks last month, after all.”

 

“Hey, those charges were never filed,” reminded Tony, his fingers curling around his coffee mug as he picked it up for a sip.

 

“Trust me, Tony, I know,” countered Pepper with a shake of her head as she set the last of the dishes in dishwasher and closed it. “I was the one who convinced the police _not_ to arrest you.”

 

“And you did a great job,” complimented Tony, setting aside his cup as the sound of running footsteps suddenly cut through the room. Darcy burst in a second later, darting across the room to where Tony sat and jumping into his lap. Automatically, Tony grabbed Darcy to make sure she didn't fall back out of his lap and onto the floor. He hadn't been fast enough once and the guilt had nearly driven him mad, even though Darcy had stopped crying after five minutes and been running around like a tornado again. 

 

“Daddy! I'm ready for school!” announced Darcy, her excitement nearly bubbling over as she turned big, happy eyes onto her father.

 

Pepper nearly laughed as Tony restrained himself from releasing a pent-up sigh and cuddled Darcy closer. “I can see that, Darce. We're going to take you soon, alright?”

 

“Actually,” corrected Pepper, checking the clock. “We are going to take you right now. Go grab your backpack, okay Darcy?”

 

“Yes Mommy!” replied Darcy excitedly as she bolted out of Tony's grasp before he could tighten his hold and raced out of the room.

 

Tony did let out a groan then, dropping his head back against the table. “Do we really have to take her, Pep? Can't we wait another year?”

 

“No, Tony,” insisted Pepper firmly. “She needs to start this year.” Stepping back over to her genius boss, Pepper rested her hand softly on his shoulder. “You don't have to come along if you don't want to. I can take her myself.”

 

“Hell no,” growled Tony, shooting up in his seat with a slight glare. “I want to see this place for myself. There's no way I'm letting Darce go off on her own to school the first day.”

 

“Alright,” agreed Pepper softly. “But remember, Tony, we need to keep you out of sight. Both of us agreed to keep Darcy's connection to you low profile and that's what we need to do. So no jumping out of the car. I will have Happy lock you inside if I need to.”

 

“You can't have Happy lock me in my own car,” objected Tony, downing the rest of his coffee.

 

Pepper made a noise of disbelief in the back of her throat as she headed towards the door to the kitchen. “I can and will, Tony. Do not underestimate my powers as your personal assistant and Darcy's mother.”

 

\--------------------------------------

 

Stalwell Academy was a well-hidden little mansion of a place nestled up into the Malibu hills. It's entire parameter was walled so high it would be next to impossible to climb over and the top was covered in what as clearly a short, spiked fence. Surrounded by additional spikes 'for security purposes'. At least, that's what Pepper had been told. Though it catered to kids grades kindergarten through eight, the grades themselves were well separated. The kindergarten grades were housed in a separate building on the expansive property that had once been a private mansion before the man who owned it, Stalwell, had stipulated it and his fortune should be used to start an exclusive private school. Most of the kids who attended were from well-to-do families. Some of the children who attended though were from parents like Pepper- well paid, high level assistants and others who easily made six digits a year. Tony had insisted the school should be high quality and exclusive, for Darcy's safety, and Pepper tended to agree. They could renegotiate the terms of Darcy's schooling later, when she was a little older and they could explain some things to her a little better.

 

Like the fact there were people out there who wanted her father dead.

 

As the limo pulled into the round-about, Pepper glanced towards Darcy and Tony. Tony was watching Darcy with the worried furrow he'd frequently begun wearing since Pepper had told him Darcy needed to start school. Darcy, however, was completely oblivious to her father's discomfort. In fact, she nearly had her face pressed to the glass as the school came into view. She was even bouncing a little in her seat, excitement barely contained.

 

As Happy pulled the limo to a stop, Pepper reached over to tap Darcy's shoulder for her attention. The little girl looked wide-eyed up at Pepper, curious eyes turned towards her adoptive mother. “Darcy, give your father a hug, now. He needs to wait in the limo while I walk you in, alright?”

 

“Alright Mommy,” agreed Darcy, throwing herself at her father and wrapping her little arms around him in a tight hug. “I love you, Daddy.”  
  


“I love you, too, Darce,” repeated Tony, squeezing her so tight she made a little noise of objection. “Be good today and don't let anyone make you feel back, alright?”  
  


“Alright Daddy,” agreed Darcy, worming her way out of her dad's grasp and reaching for the door handle. She had the door open before Tony could grab her again and was climbing excitedly from the vehicle.

 

Pepper chuckled, following her to the door before turning back to glance at Tony. “Remember Tony, stay in the car. Happy,” she turned towards the driver who glanced back at her from the rear view mirror, “lock the doors once I'm out and don't let Tony out of this car.”

 

“You got it, Miss Potts,” agreed Happy, settling back into his seat. Pepper could hear the sound of the locks clicking into place a second later as she slid from the limo and closed the door. Laying one hand on Darcy's shoulder, she led the little girl inside. The large secondary building on the property.

 

At one point, the kindergarten had probably been the servants quarters. It sat alone, a little ways back from the main building. Despite it's separate location though, the building itself was clearly very large. Inside, a hallway cut straight through the building and led to a fenced in play area while bathrooms and some administrative offices hung off the corridor on the left side. On the right were the two kindergarten classrooms and Pepper easily led Darcy to the second one.

 

Inside, she could hear the noise of the other children playing. The noise didn't seem to deter Darcy though: she just walked up to the door and pushed it open. A young woman with long, blond hair looked up as Pepper entered, offering the assistant a smile as she stood from her desk to greet them.

 

“Hello again, Miss Potts,” greeted the woman, Samantha if Pepper remembered correctly. The teacher's eyes fell to Darcy then, offering the young girl a smile. “And you must be Darcy.”

 

“Darcy Potts,” confirmed Darcy, offering the teach a smile and her hand. “It's nice to meet you, Miss, er...” Darcy's words trailed off as she looked up at Pepper uncertainly.

 

“Stalwell,” finished the teacher with a smile. “I'm Miss Stalwell, but everyone just calls me 'Miss Sam', Darcy.”

 

“Alright Miss Sam,” agreed Darcy, her eyes wondering to the playing children curiously.

 

Sam just smiled and gestured to a set of hooks along one wall. “If you want to, Darcy, you're welcome to hang up your backpack and go join the other children.”

 

Darcy's eyes cut back to the teacher for a moment before she nodded once. “Alright, Miss Sam.” Turning back to Pepper, she wrapped her arms around Pepper's legs and squeezed her firmly. “Bye Mommy.”

 

“Bye Darcy,” replied Pepper, laying a hand gently against the little girl's head. “I'll be back to pick you up later.”

 

Nodding, Darcy darted off towards the hooks, barely dropping her bag before she was shooting across the room towards where some other children were playing with what looked like blocks. For a moment, Pepper watched as the bubbly little girl greeted the other children with the same ease that Tony did super models and dropped down to play with them. The sound of Samantha making a startled noise, however, drew Pepper's attention.

 

Her eyes flew to the teacher, then followed her line of sight to the door. Where Tony was peeking in while trying to make himself as small as possible. It only took him a second to realize he'd been spotted though, and he quickly stood completely back up, clearing his throat as if he hadn't being spying on the room a moment ago. Pepper shot him her best death glare, careful to make sure the teacher didn't notice.

 

“Hey Pep, just wanted to see if you were done yet or not,” greeted Tony, taking on his usual, casual air.

 

“Mr. Stark, I thought I asked you wait in the car,” countered Pepper, careful of her audience.

 

Tony just gave her a raised eyebrow. “Well, if you'd cracked the window for me....”

 

Restraining her pent-up sigh, Pepper offered Samantha a smile as she stepped towards Tony. “It was a pleasure seeing you again, Miss Stalwell.”

 

“Stalwell?” repeated Tony, raising one eyebrow as he glanced from Pepper to the teacher. “Related to the guy who started this place?”  
  


“He was my grandfather,” confirmed Samantha, her voice a little shocked. “When I became a teacher, he decided to open a school.”

 

“Huh,” nodded Tony, glancing across the room where Darcy was playing. “So what are your cert-”

 

“Thank you, again, Miss Stalwell,” cut in Pepper as she took Tony's arm and began to push him from the room. “I'll pick Darcy up today, once school's out. Call me if there's any trouble.”

 

“Of course, Miss Potts,” agreed Samantha, brow furrowing as she watched Pepper push Tony out of the room.

 

Once they were in the empty hall and the door was shut, Pepper threw Tony a very, very angry glare. She was careful to keep her voice down though as she dragged Tony towards the front of the building. “Tony, I told you to wait in the car. How did you even get out? And where's Happy?”

 

“Happy's getting me some coffee,” replied Tony with a shrug. “As for how I got out, I have been locked in a car before. You've put the child safety locks on the door before to try to keep me in, remember?”

 

“I remember,” groaned Pepper, recalling that particular time in Vegas. “Is the limo still in one piece?”

 

“Mostly,” confirmed Tony with a shrug. “I can put back together everything I took apart.”

 

“Next time, I'm going to tie you up,” grumbled Pepper as she dragged the billionaire back to the car and half-pushed him inside.

 

“Kinky,” stated Tony, offering Pepper a slight leer even as he slid over so she could climb into the limo. Once the door was shut though, all marks of joking Tony vanished as he turned worried eyes on Pepper. “Pep, are you sure Darce will be okay in there? There were so many other kids, how can one teacher keep track of them all.”

 

Pepper sighed, settling into the seat of the limo. Her irritation with Tony was real (this whole charade was his idea after all), but it was fading fast in the light of his clear worry. Truthfully, his move wasn't unexpected. She just had expected him to sneak back later to check on her. Or steal a spy satellite to do it. “Tony, this is the best kindergarten in the area. Darcy will be fine here and I even gave the teacher my cellphone number in case something _did_ go wrong.”

 

“When?” asked Tony, brow furrowing as he leaned back against his seat. Happy appeared at the door then, pulling it open and passing Tony a Styrofoam cup of coffee. He glanced back at the driver, nodding to the man with a 'thanks Happy' before refocusing on Pepper. Happy just closed the door and slid back into the driver's seat. “I didn't see you give her anything.”

 

“I did it days ago, when I went in to pay the tuition and sign some paperwork,” replied Pepper, shaking her head as she settled back in her own seat as the limo began to move. “She's going to be fine, Tony.” Offering him a smile, she pulled out her portfolio and pulled some papers from inside. “Now, try to stop worrying. You have a full day ahead of you and I'd like us to get through most of this before Darcy gets home.”

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Darcy nearly bolted to the limo as Happy pulled into the round-about for the school, turning back only to wave at the other children before she climbed into the car. Pepper grinned at the little girl, wrapping her arms around Darcy as she nearly jumped into Pepper's lap momentarily before dropping her bag and shooting across the limo to Tony. The worried genius wrapped his arms tight around Darcy as the little girl reached him, his brow finally relaxing for the first time since they'd dropped her off that morning. Pepper had been careful to keep an eye on Tony all day to ensure the man didn't sneak out, though she had caught him using a Stark satellite to spy on the school (she pretended she hadn't noticed).

 

Settling in beside her father, Darcy settled into her seat with the biggest smile spread over her face. “Hi mommy, hi daddy!”

 

“Hello Darcy,” greeted Pepper, smiling back at her daughter. “How was school?”

 

“Amazing!” exclaimed Darcy, throwing her arms into the air. “It was so fun! We got to play with blocks and run around outside! And everyone's _really_ nice, though they don't have as many fun toys as Daddy has.”

 

“No one has as many toys as me,” laughed Tony as he leaned back with a content smile on his face. “Did you build anything fun?”

 

“Well, Miss Sam wouldn't give me her computer so I couldn't finish it, but I started building an automated paper airplane launcher!” exclaimed Darcy proudly. “It was gonna be cool!”

 

Internally, Pepper tried not to groan. Wonderful, her fist day of school and Darcy was already trying to start trouble. The look of irritation that crossed Tony's face wasn't a good sign either. Quickly, Pepper cut in before Tony could say something rude about the teacher. “Well, Miss Sam needs her computer intact. But I'm sure we have the parts at home that you need and that Daddy will be happy to help you finish your automated paper plane launcher.”

 

Tony's lips tightened but a look from Pepper had him nodding along with her solution all the same. “Yeah Darce, I'd be happy to help you.”

 

“Thank you Daddy!” exclaimed Darcy, throwing her little arms around Tony's middle. Tony gave her a half hug in return, chuckling slightly at her excitement. The previously irritated look disappeared in the face of his daughter's clear excitement.

 

“So did you learn anything new today, Darcy?” prompted Pepper, attempting to return her daughter's focus to the subject of her first school day.

 

The way Darcy's brow suddenly furrowed made Pepper tense. That look was never good when it crossed Darcy's face. Never. “Not really. We started reading today.”

 

“Reading is good,” nodded Pepper in approval. “What did you read?”

 

“Nothing,” replied Darcy with a shake of her head. “We _learning_ to read. Why can't the other kids read?”

 

“The other kids can't read!?” asked Tony, breaking into the conversation in shock. He turned accusingly to Pepper, giving her a dirty look. “What kind of a kindergarten is this place, Pep?!”

 

“A normal one, Tony,” countered Pepper with a heavy sigh. “Most kids can't read going into kindergarten. I brought the matter up with Miss Sam last week. She assured me that Darcy could read by herself while the other children were learning. She even assured me she would bring in some harder books so Darcy could push herself.”

 

“They were _boring_ ,” countered Darcy unhappily. “And easy. Can't I bring books from home?”

 

“I'm sure that would be fine, Darcy,” mollified Pepper gently. “Miss Sam understands you're a bit more advanced than the other children but you have to go through kindergarten all the same.”

 

“But _why_?” wined Darcy. “I like the other kids, but the work is boring.”

 

“Because you haven't played with many other children, Darcy,” pointed out Pepper gently. “Kindergarten isn't just about learning to read or numbers. It's about learning to work with other kids, too. As I said, I've spoken with Miss Sam and she assured me she could give you more challenging work where you needed it.”

 

“So when I finished today, why did she look surprised?” asked Darcy, tilting her head in confusion.

 

Pepper sighed. She wouldn't tell Tony this, but she had been a bit concerned that Samantha hadn't taken her 'advanced' comments seriously. A lot of parents claimed their children were advanced when they weren't, but hopefully after today, Samantha would understand what Pepper meant. “You have to give it a few days, Darcy. I told Miss Sam you needed harder work but she might not have known how hard of work to give you. I'll talk with her about it tomorrow, alright?”

 

“Alright,” agreed Darcy, nodding happily.

 

“No, not alright!” broke in Tony, his voice angry. “Pepper, this woman doesn't know what she's doing if she isn't properly challenging Darcy. I think we should home school her.”

 

“No, Tony,” stated Pepper firmly. “Darcy has to learn how to socialize with other children. We can't just keep her locked up in the house all the time.”

 

“But she's my daughter, Pep,” whined Tony, wrapping his arms around her again. “Why does she have to go to school? I'm a genius, I can teach her everything.”

 

“Tony,” sighed Pepper, meeting the genius' eyes. “You can't teach her how to get along with other kids or how to talk to people. That's part of what school does: it teaches you to deal with other people, both people you like and people you don't.”

 

“But I like everyone at school,” argued Darcy, her brow furrowing like Tony's own. “And everyone likes me.”

 

“That's right Darcy,” agreed Pepper, moving across the limo to sit on Darcy's other side. “But sometimes people aren't nice and you have to learn to deal with those people yourself. I'll speak with Miss Sam again about your advanced needs tomorrow and maybe we can see if there's a test you can take to give us a better idea of what you need. Okay?”

 

“Okay,” repeated Darcy.

 

“Not okay,” repeated Tony, frown firmly in place. “I don't like the idea of Darcy going to a school where she doesn't learn anything.”

 

“Tony,” groaned Pepper, shaking her head. “You're missing the point of school.”

 

“Hey, I was done when I was eleven and I'm doing just fine,” pointed out Tony with a touch of a scowl.

 

“Tony, you have next to no people skills,” reminded Pepper. “Which is why I handle most of the business matters on your plate.”

 

Tony opened his mouth to argue, he really did. Pepper could see the look. But the pause surprised her, as did the way he closed his mouth. Instead of arguing in fact, he settled back into the seat. All Pepper could do was stare. Did Tony seriously just admit defeat, even if he never actually admitted it? When he didn't say something a minute later though, just remained silent, Pepper took it for a win and quickly refocused on Darcy.

  
“So what else did you do today, Darcy?” encouraged Pepper, taking advantage of the silence. It might be that Tony didn't want to have this argument in front of Darcy. He was oddly aware of her sometimes, but Pepper guessed that just came from fatherhood.

 

“Well, we did finger painting and we played outside,” continued Darcy happily, the excitement from earlier returning rapidly. “The teacher has a big parachute! Did you know that? And we got to play with it.....”

 

\-------------------------------------

 

The matters were mostly resolved a week later. Darcy was getting harder course work and Tony had eventually stopped muttering about sending her off to school. Even with that progress though, Pepper was only faintly surprised when she received a call from the police a week later, after they picked up Tony in the bushes outside the kindergarten classroom. 


End file.
